


Penny For Your Thoughts?

by melodramatic



Category: Community, Community (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Inspector Spacetime - Freeform, Kickpuncher, M/M, confusing feelings, just a lot of fluff, sometime in s3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:13:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24245575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodramatic/pseuds/melodramatic
Summary: For some, the feeling of being understood by someone was regular and a common occurrence. It didn’t mean much to those kinds of people.But to someone like Abed, who had been misunderstood his entire life, it meant everything.
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 12
Kudos: 218





	1. Chapter 1

It was a Tuesday when Troy had noticed something was different. 

He had said goodnight to Abed over an hour ago, yet remained tossing and turning in his bed. There was something that was keeping him up - maybe the fact that his brain wouldn’t shut off, thinking and rethinking everything that had happened throughout the day. There wasn’t even anything special to recall. It had been a pretty regular day for their study group. They sat at their usual table and got into a very usual conversation about their classes that teetered the line between a discussion and a downright argument. 

So, again. Nothing special.

Troy sighed and finally gave up on trying to sleep, opening his eyes and looking around at the makeshift walls that were actually blankets. He smiled to himself. He really did love this small world him and Abed had constructed. 

“Abed,” He called in a whisper-voice. He waited a couple of seconds, and heard nothing. The other boy was probably fast asleep at this point.  
Just to be sure, Troy sat up and leaned over his bunk, looking down at the bed below him.

And much to his surprise, the bed was empty. 

He furrowed a brow. When had Abed gotten up? Troy hadn’t even heard him do so. Not only that, but where did he go this late at night? 

He looked over to the clock that sat on a nightstand by Abed’s bed and saw bright red numbers reading 11:03PM. Troy knew now there’d be no way of him being able to fall asleep without knowing where Abed was. 

He wasn’t overly afraid or worried - if anything, he was something that might’ve barely crossed the line of curious.

He just wanted to make sure his friend was okay.

With a deep sigh, he swung his legs off of his bed and climbed down the small ladder that held their beds together. He pulled back their blanket-wall and looked around for only a second, before his eye caught something in his peripheral vision.

He turned to his right where his eyes settled on the only person he’d ever get out of his bed to go look for - his other half, his best friend. 

Abed; who was already staring back.

He sat criss-cross on one of their chairs in front of their TV, but the screen was black. Not the kind of green-black that a TV would get when you’ve just turned it off - no, the kind of deep black it’s get when it had been off for awhile.

He had a notebook in his lap, his hand clutching a pencil that seemed to be in the middle of writing a sentence that stopped upon seeing Troy emerge.

“Hey,” He greeted in his signature monotone voice. 

“Hey,” Troy returned, turning his body to face him fully. His eyes flicked down to the notebook and upon seeing him do so, Abed immediately closed it, never breaking eye contact. “What’re you still doing up?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Abed replied, pointing his pencil at his friend.

“Fair enough. Can’t ask me what I’m doing writing in the middle of the night, though.” Troy said, raising an eyebrow.

“Fair enough,” Abed retorted in the same fashion Troy had.

Although Troy wouldn’t admit so aloud, he thought it quite adorable the way Abed would sometimes copy a social mannerism because he couldn’t come up with any of his own. 

He shook the thought from his head, wondering in the back of his mind if that was something he really should be thinking.

“So what’re you writing?” Troy asked, stepping closer, “Is it another Inspector Spacetime parallel universe theory? Your last one was awesome.” He had a smile on his face as he approached the other boy, taking a seat in the chair next to him.

Abed simply blinked for a moment, his hands still, clearly not making any effort to open the notebook.  
“No.” He stated plainly.

Troy reminded himself not to take offense at the blunt tone, hating the way he could become so sensitive so easily. It’s just - him and Abed shared everything with one another. From the stupid and trivial, to the ground-breaking and earth-shattering. Troy himself had shared a personal story with Abed not long before they had gone to bed, recounting an embarrassing high school memory. 

“Oh,” He ended up replying. His eyes flicked back and forth, scanning Abed’s but to no avail. His eyes were stone cold as they always were, albiet a little more red than usual, most likely due to staying up later than he normally did. “Well, what’re you writing about, then?” He asked again.

Abed looked down at the closed notebook for a moment, before looking back up to Troy. “It’s nothing.” His eyes flicked back towards their makeshift bedroom. “I didn’t mean to wake you by keeping the lights on. Sorry it I did.”

Troy shook his head, but was still curious as to what Abed was writing about, “No, it’s fine,” He relaxed in the chair, “Couldn’t sleep anyways.”

Abed furrowed his brows, “Why not?”

Troy shrugged, leaning his head back so that he was staring at the ceiling, “I dunno. Just one of those nights, I guess.” He clasped his hands together, resting on his lap for a couple seconds of silence and then looked back in front of him - at Abed, who was still openly staring at him. He thought he should’ve felt self-conscious, but it was almost impossible to feel anything other than comfortable in Abed’s presence, despite anyone else who might’ve said the exact opposite.

He supposed he just saw things differently than others.

“Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story?” Abed asked candidly, his eyes focused forwards.

“Really?” Troy replied, a small smile creeping onto his face. The bedtime story itself he couldn’t have cared less about. It was times that Abed volunteered to help Troy in some way that caused his heart to grow warm, the feeling spreading to his face.

Abed nodded, “Of course. They usually help you sleep.”

“Okay,” Troy agreed rather excitedly. They both stood up and Abed placed his baby blue notebook on the chair he had been sitting on, following Troy into their room. 

Troy climbed onto his top bunk and Abed followed closely behind, taking a seat vertically, so that his legs dangled over the ladder. Troy laid down, getting himself comfortably wrapped in his blanket while Abed clasped his hands together and thought, the gears behind his eyes turning and turning to create a story. 

“Got one,” He spoke after a minute, pointing his finger in the air as he did when he had an idea or a new thought.

Troy chuckled, “I’m waiting.” He still had a soft smile on his face, already feeling sleepier than he had a few minutes ago now that Abed was there with him. 

He tried not to read too much into that.

“A long, long time ago, there was a large city that was said to be cursed with a spell of timelessness by an angry witch. This meant that nobody in the town would age. Children stayed children, adults stayed adults, old people stayed old. This sounded like a good thing at first, but it actually began to drive everybody mad,” Abed gestured with his hands for added effect, “They begged to be released from this burden of time. That’s when two very brave knights came riding into town. They were from a parallel dimension where technology was far more advanced than ever, giving them access to a machine that could travel between universes.” 

Troy snickered and Abed looked towards him. His eyes were closed, and yet the appearance of a smirk was evident on his lips. His face looked relaxed and his chest expanded and deflated evenly, as if he were already half-asleep. 

There was something about the sight that endeared Abed. He had seen his best friend fall asleep countless times, but this time - while he basked in a warm glow of story-telling - was different. 

He didn’t know why. He couldn’t possibly know why. Everything was the same except for something warm that settled in the center of Abed’s chest. All he knew is that he now had something else to write in his notebook. Something else he needed to figure out and problem-solve.

Troy suddenly squinted an eye open, peeking towards Abed, who had gotten too lost in his own thoughts to realize he had stopped story-telling for over a minute now.

“You okay?” Troy asked, his lips tilting downwards. 

For a second, they simply stared at each other. There were words and phrases and sentences circling Abed’s brain, yet none of them had to do with the bedtime story he was supposed to be constructing. 

“Yeah. Fine. Um-“ He swallowed thickly. Maybe there was something wrong with him.

“Are you going to finish the story?” Troy asked, although his eyes fluttered closed, signaling he was already ready to fall asleep.

Abed nodded, despite the other boy not looking at him anymore. “Yeah.”

He began where he had left off, about two universes colliding for the better. He tried to speak softly, so as to soothe Troy into a comfortable state that would allow him to fall asleep. He almost felt somewhat responsible for him not being able to sleep in the first place, although he knew it wasn’t totally his fault. The kitchen lights shining through their thin blanket walls might’ve prohibited Troy from falling asleep sooner, even if the boy didn’t admit it. He probably wouldn’t admit it, though, even if that were the sole reason for him being awake.

Troy seemed to consistently treat Abed differently than he did their other friends. With a little bit more care and consideration, and possibly a little bit more sugar-coating.

To anyone else, it might’ve been insulting.

To Abed, it had the exact opposite affect. But he already tended to think differently than other people anyways, so that wasn’t the biggest shocker in the world.

His thoughts wandered into a territory more Troy-central before he realized he had stopped telling his bedtime story altogether, his own mind seeming louder than his speech. His eyes darted towards Troy, who hadn’t mentioned this because he was already snoring softly.

Abed’s lips turned upwards as he felt a certain warmth flow through his bones, up and down from his toes to his neck.

He let his gaze linger on Troy for a moment before he sighed to himself and slowly got up from Troy’s bed, careful not to wake him. He was tired too, but his brain was racing with feeling and emotions he didn’t quite understand.

Heading back into the living room, he picked up his pencil and notebook and settled back into his chair, his hands eager to continue writing. Once he let his pencil say everything he himself couldn’t, he felt his eyes grow tired.

The clock inside their room blinked 1:13AM before he finally returned to his bed and fell asleep.

//:// 

The night went as quickly as it had come and suddenly the sun was shining through the cracks in the blinds. Sounds of the street became more prominent by the minute - buses, car horns and noisy pedestrians muting the chirping birds right outside their building.

Troy woke up only a couple of minutes before their alarm went off, surprising, since he got to bed later than usual the previous night. He swung his legs over his bed and climbed down, his thoughts already running over his encounter with Abed last night.

Something was just a little bit off, but he didn’t quite know what it was.

The way Abed had stayed up later than usual. The notebook that he didn’t give Troy any information about.

The way it took Abed sitting next to him to finally lull him to sleep.

Troy swallowed thickly as he made his way into the bathroom to wash his face. He took a deep breath as he stared at himself in the mirror. Even with the door closed, he could hear the alarm in the room go off for a couple of minutes before it suddenly stopped, Abed presumably waking up.

Only, when Troy went into the kitchen to make himself breakfast before they had to get to their first class, he only noticed Annie up. She was standing by the fridge, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“Morning Troy,” She chimed in a cheerful, yet sleepy voice.

“Morning,” He replied, taking a box of cereal down from a tall cabinet. They were both comfortably silent, beginning their day with a regular routine. Sometimes Troy did miss it when him and Abed were the only ones in the apartment, but those feelings never lasted long. Annie was something like family now, and he didn’t mind at all having to adjust around her when she first moved in.

“I had this super weird dream last night,” Annie admitted as she sat at their kitchen table and stared towards Troy.

“What about?” Troy asked, only half-listening. The oven clock read 6:35am, and Abed was usually up by this time. He poured milk into his cereal with a puzzled look, then sitting down at the table across from Annie.

“Well-“ She interrupted herself when Abed finally moseyed into their space, his feet seeming to drag more than usual. “Abed. Are you okay?” She asked immediately.

Abed looked towards her as he reached into a cupboard for a glass. His eyes scanned over her and then Troy, who had turned around to look at him. Abed’s eyes were nearly bloodshot red, dark circles taking their place under his lower lash line. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in centuries - like maybe he’d been tossing and turning all night.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked simply. His eyes darted to Troy for only a second before he turned his attention back to the glass in his hand, and began pouring himself some water.

Annie exchanged eye contact with Troy, then looked back at Abed, “Well, you just... Your eyes are all red. Did you have trouble sleeping last night?” She asked.

Abed paused for a moment, staring down into the drain of the sink. He looked up after a minute, “Something like that.” He said, taking his glass of water back into their bedroom.

Annie looked over at Troy, who for some reason, felt his heart slightly drop.

There was definitely something up with Abed, and it kind of hurt him to think that this wasn’t something Abed felt like he could talk to Troy about. He was typically closed off with others - not with Troy.

The boy frowned as Annie spoke up in somewhat of a whisper, “What’s going on with him?” She asked.

Troy couldn’t do anything except shrug, “Not sure.” There were a couple moments of silence before Annie began another subject, seemingly trying to lighten the mood. She may have felt the weight that the air suddenly carried, but Troy didn’t really care. He was far too busy thinking of last night and the notebook he had seen Abed writing in - the one that he didn’t want to share the contents of.

Troy snuck a look towards their bedroom and wondered where that notebook was.

//://

Finally, Troy had decided there was something Abed seemed to be hiding.

For a few days now, he had seen Abed go to sleep late and wake up early - his eyes red and sunken in every morning, announcing to the world that he had slept quite poorly the night before. 

It didn’t do Troy any good to simply ask him about it, either. The other friend would avidly avoidable eye contact and work hard to either change the subject, or leave the room entirely. 

He kept denying that there was anything wrong, simply stating that he just wasn’t feeling very good or he wasn’t sleeping as well because he had a hard time winding down. There was one night where Troy had even changed the movie from a horror film to something more corny and funny, hoping that would help Abed sleep easily that night.

“What’re you doing?” Abed had asked when Troy grabbed the remote and clicked pause. It was towards the beginning of the movie, right when the plot had started picking up. He knew that was one of Abed’s favorite parts.

“I’m changing it to something less scary,” He stated matter-of-factly as he began looking through their collection of DVDs.

“Why?” Abed asked, tilting his head slightly, “You love scary movies.” He was confused. He had chosen scary movies the past couple of nights specifically because he knew Troy couldn’t get enough of them, and it was rather adorable the way Troy would get so scared and wrap himself up in a blanket - like a caterpillar creating a cocoon.

And sometimes Troy would ask for a bedtime story after a scary movie. It was those moments, when Abed was sitting at the foot of Troy’s bed, reciting a made-up story from a fantasy land in his brain, that the world seemed to make a little more sense. He could watch Troy slowly begin to fall asleep, his eyelashes fluttering. He would watch his chest rise and fall evenly, and Abed would resist the urge to reach a hand our and place it over his heart. He didn’t know what the urge meant, but in that peaceful moment, he didn’t have to. He could sit quietly with his confusing feelings and not feel the overwhelming desire to make sense of them.

The world made a little more sense. Until reality came back around and it didn’t.

“I know,” Troy replied innocently, “But maybe this is why you’ve been having trouble sleeping. We keep watching scary movies before we go to sleep - let’s watch something funnier.” He continued looking through their DVDs, taking every other movie and briefly reading the description, even though he had seen most of them several times.  
“Oh!” He exclaimed when he found one, “How about this one?” He turned back around to see Abed with his eyebrows furrowed together, staring intensely at Troy.

And it wasn’t like Abed was ever known for soft stares, but there was something... different about the way his eyes implored Troy’s. Something different, and something invigorating that sent an electric chill down his spine.

“That one works,” Abed finally said, although his eyes didn’t once divert to the DVD case Troy was holding up for him to see.

Troy cleared his throat, “Okay. Good. Yeah.” He took out the previous disc and insert the new one, his hands suddenly fumbling with a newfound sense of nervousness. He internally berated himself. What possible reason could he have to be nervous around Abed - his best friend?

With the remote in his hand, he clicked the play button, relaxing back into his chair. He huffed out a breath and ran a hand through his hair as the screen began showing disclaimers for the upcoming movie.

Abed couldn’t help but stare at Troy for a couple of moments longer. He watched the man sigh deeply, take a hand and run it through his hair as he fixated his attention on the TV in front of him. And while Abed usually would do the same, he couldn’t.

For some reason, for once in his life, he was more intrigued by the person sitting on the chair beside him than the movie. He couldn’t stop thinking about Troy’s words from mere moments ago.

They rang around in Abed’s head like a whistle in an empty hallway. 

_Maybe this is why you’re having trouble sleeping.... let’s watch something funnier._

He blinked heavily, looking down into his lap. It was such a small act of caring and not too long ago, Abed wouldn’t have even thought twice about it.

So he didn’t understand why these small acts were suddenly seeming to pile up on his heart, making the blood that flowed through him warmer and warmer each time. He was being ambushed by an emotion he didn’t understand. 

What was going on in his head was far scarier than anything they previously had on the television.

He looked back up from his lap and to his right, to see Troy already staring back, a small grin on his face.

“You good?” He asked through a chuckle. His hand was posed towards the TV, his thumb hovering over the play button and Abed didn’t even realized he had paused it. Even he was surprised at himself for how zoned out he had been for a minute.

Nevertheless, he smiled in return, trying to ignore the fluttering in his stomach when Troy’s expression softened towards him.

“Yeah,” He replied, nodding, “I’m good. Let’s watch.” He turned back towards the TV, pretending not to notice the way Troy’s gaze lingered on him just a moment longer even after he had hit play.

Abed’s heart was almost beating out of his chest and he had the urge to write everything down. What he felt, who he felt it towards. He had hoped writing it down would help him figure things out, because he’d be able to look at it later and connect a sort of pattern or recognize where these foreign feelings were coming from. Study himself in the way he often studied others.

That night, long after the movie had ended, Troy and Abed were both in their beds, the soft sound of their breathing seeming louder on this night for some reason. 

Troy’s eyes were trained on the ceiling and he felt himself beginning to drift off into sleep. He tried not to think about the way he felt earlier in the evening when he had caught his best friend staring at him multiple times throughout the movie. Each time was played off with a shrug and/or chuckle, but each time he felt his neck heat up and his entire body grow warm under the eye contact.

He tried not to think about how he already couldn’t wait for tomorrow, because that’s when him and Abed’s schedules lined up enough so they’d be on campus together the whole day.

And he especially tried not to think of the growing urge he had to be consistently near Abed, to the point where he felt sad and detached when the two of them weren’t side-by-side. And even though they were used to spending all of their time together anyways, this urge seemed to be somewhat different. It also included Troy being even more sensitive towards Abed than he ever had been.

Something was shifting in him and he couldn’t figure out _why_. 

At some point through the night, when he was half asleep, he heard the man on the bottom bunk sigh deeply and then carefully get up and exit the room. He tried not to think too much of that, either.


	2. Chapter 2

One Friday morning, when their study group met at their usual table, Troy had a hard time contributing to the typical banter. 

He had entered the room to find pretty much everybody there except for Pierce, Abed and Jeff.

“Morning Troy,” Britta, Annie and Shirley greeted happily, pausing their conversation.

“Hey,” He greeted in return, his tone sounding surprisingly solemn. The girls exchanged looks as Troy slung his backpack off of his shoulders and set it on the floor, slumping down in a chair next to Britta.

“Is everything okay, Troy?” The blonde asked. The other girls watched silently. 

Troy’s eyes were trained down in his lap as he fumbled with his hands. He cleared his throat, although he didn’t quite know how to say what he wanted to. 

How could he address the concern he had for his friend’s behavior without also giving himself away? What if they didn’t even have answers? 

Or worse yet - what if they offered an answer that Troy had been pushing back all of this time? What if they were going to tell him what he already knew? 

He sighed and looked up at the girls who were still expectantly, but patiently, waiting for him to speak. He opened his mouth, but right as he did so, two tall, familiar presences made their way into the room, the taller one of the two finishing some anecdote or another with a sarcastic ending. 

“Hey guys,” Jeff greeted, plopping down in his usual seat and taking his phone from his pocket.

Abed came over and sat adjacent to Troy, the air immediately getting warmer between the two.

Troy couldn’t help but produce a soft smile, whatever he was going to say being thrown from his thoughts. “Hey,” He said in somewhat of a whisper to the man beside him. They were zeroed in in each other, and Abed actually returned the warm smile, whispering the same greeting back, as if they hadn’t just seen each other minutes ago. 

Even around everyone else, Troy found himself focusing solely on Abed, wanting to illicit a reaction from him and only him. It was as if he brought the sun with him wherever he went. Others might’ve misunderstood and found it more annoying than endearing, but Troy couldn’t have felt more opposite. He loved watching Abed enter the room and become a source of unique energy that only the lucky would be able to appreciate. He loved the way that Abed seemed to feel similar in his own way, always trying to seek out Troy and get him to participate in something only they would be able to understand.

It was a language that only they could speak and it made Troy’s heart flutter.

They turned back towards the group who were each staring openly at the two.

“Geeze, get a room, guys,” Jeff interjected as everyone broke out into a mixture of laughter and rolled eyes.

Troy and Abed both looked at each other and laughed as well, only a beat behind everyone else. 

The only one who seemed to notice was Britta, whose smile went away before everybody else’s did.

“Didn’t you have something you were going to say, Troy?” She asked.

Troy’s mouth went agape, “Uh,” His eyes flickered to Abed who was staring at him with a quirked brow, and then to Jeff, who had a similar, albeit more amused, expression on his face. “No, actually I didn’t.”

He looked back at Britta who narrowed her eyes at him. He simply shrugged her off, turning back towards the rest of the group, “Did you guys see what the Dean’s wearing today?”

Just like that, a regular flow of conversation ensued, Jeff taking the lead with his comments about the Dean. Shirley and Annie were happy to participate, with Abed watching silently, and chuckling to himself at particularly funny comments.

Britta stayed staring at Troy for longer than the others, her eyes flicking between him and Abed. Only briefly, however, before she chimed into the conversation with something to say herself.

Before they knew it, it was time for each of them to head to their first class of the day. They were all getting up from the table and one-by-one saying goodbye until lunch.

“See you in a bit, man.” Troy said as he turned to Abed.

Abed nodded, “See you in a bit.” He put his notebook down on the table to complete their signature handshake. Troy’s eyes flicked towards the notebook for a moment and he recognized it as the one had he seen Abed stay up late to write in and divert any conversation about.

Vaguely, Troy wondered it Abed was merely doing another movie plot that Troy just hadn’t caught onto yet. He looked back up, making eye contact with his friend. He didn’t know exactly why, but this felt too real, too _Abed_ to be something out of a movie.

The taller boy flashed a small smile before grabbing his things and walking out of the room, his notebook clutched tightly at his side.

Troy turned around and nearly jumped to find Britta standing oddly close to him.

He gave her a half-smile as he picked his things up from the table.

“What’s going on?” She inquired bluntly, pointing a finger at him.

Troy scoffed and pushed her hand away from his face, “I don’t know what you mean.” He began to walk in the direction of his class, but Britta followed in step next to him.

“I think you know exactly what I mean,” She countered. “You and Abed are seeming more weird than usual.”

Troy stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, “That’s offensive, Britta. You don’t call weird people weird. You of all people should know that.”

Britta crossed her arms, “I’m not saying ‘you are weird’ I’m just saying you guys are acting weird.”

Troy blinked at her for a moment as she tried to flash a disarming smile. “That’s not much better.” He began walking again, Britta skipping a footstep to catch up to him.

“Will you just tell me what’s wrong? Let me help-“

“You can’t help if there’s nothing wrong, Britta.” They finally reached the classroom he was supposed to be in and Troy turned to face her. “So thank you, but no thank you.”

Britta scoffed as he opened the classroom door and entered, leaving her in the middle of another sentence.

//://

It was time for lunch, and Troy was in line for something that probably smelled more appetizing than it actually was. He craned his neck around the cafeteria, wondering if his friends had already gotten a table or if he was the first one.

He shuffled down the line for a couple of minutes before he discovered Jeff, Annie and Abed at a table, Jeff and Annie talking back and forth while Abed sat quietly, looking down at his lunch. 

As if he could sense Troy’s presence, his attention snapped up, making direct eye contact with him from across the cafeteria. A smile immediately placed itself on his face and he waved with his hand low. Troy smiled widely in return, waving back the same way.

Something bubbled up in his chest at the small gesture as he turned to face the lunch ladies again. He thought about how far apart they were and how many students hovered all around.

No matter how many people there seemed to be, Abed still easily found Troy without missing a beat. 

As silly as it may have seemed, it made Troy feel somewhat special. And when he felt himself fill with something resembling hope, he didn’t even try to repress the feeling. 

He mentally shrugged at himself. Maybe this was just the way best friends felt about each other.

After he finally got his food, he headed towards the table that Pierce had also now joined. There was a skip in his step that didn’t last too long - before he could reach the table, someone to his right called his name.

Troy furrowed a brow and turned his attention, his eyes settling on some girl he was pretty sure he had never seen before. She struggled to get out from a table that sat a few other people and walked her way up to Troy. 

She strut her way towards him, a tight pair of jeans and tank top accentuating her slim figure. As she got closer, the dark hair that she had pulled back into a ponytail and glasses finally registering in Troy’s head - Vanessa from his math class. 

“Hey Vanessa,” Troy replied, slightly proud of himself for remembering who she was before it came back to bite him.

“Hey,” She clasped her hands together and giggled, “So, how do you think you did on our last quiz?” She asked.

Troy thought for a moment, his eyes flicking back to where his friends sat. Abed was staring at him, looking back and forth between him and Vanessa.

For some reason, Troy wanted to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible.

“Um, not sure. I think I did okay,” He responded.

“Yeah, you probably did. You’re really smart,” She smiled brightly at him, and he felt like jerk for only having a confused expression on his face.

“Uh, thanks,” He said.

“So - listen, um I don’t know if you had plans this weekend but my friends and I were gonna go to the movies. Do you wanna come?” She asked, drawing out the syllables of her last sentence. 

Troy looked back over to his table, where they were all engaged in conversation now, included Shirley and Britta who had made their way over at some point. Abed still seemed to be zoned out, not looking at anything in particular. His head was tilted down and something about the sight of it weighed down Troy’s heart.

He turned his attention towards Vanessa, who was still wearing a bright smile.

“I - uh. I just don’t know it I can. I have plans with my friends already.” He lied. Yes, he did feel kind of bad about it, but he felt even worse at the thought of ditching any possible plans with Abed to hang out with someone who he barely knew.

“Oh,” She seemed disappointed but still managed to force a smile, “Well okay. Let me know if you change your mind, though.”

Troy nodded in response and then turned away, dying to get the chance to sit down. He wanted to talk to his friends, and he was also hungry at this point.

“Who was that? She’s hot.” Jeff was the first to ask as Troy sat down next to Abed. They had to squeeze next to each other to fit, but Troy didn’t mind.

And Abed didn’t seem to either.

“Oh, no one. Just a girl in my math class.” Troy replied as he took a bite of his burger.

Jeff’s brows raised, “Wow, okay. So, what, are you into her or something?”

Troy coughed into his first as his food decided to go down the wrong pipe. He beat his chest for a moment and then coughed again. “Definitely not.” He retorted.

At that, a few eyebrows raised.

“Why ‘definitely not’?” Asked Britta.

At this point, Abed turned and was watching Troy from the side.

The boy shrugged, “I dunno. Just not interested I guess.”

The rest of them seemed like they were done with the topic, the group shifting to complain about the last classes and their next ones alike. Troy snuck a look over at Abed, and he could’ve been wrong, but he swore he saw a small smile take residence on his face as he finally began eating the food in front of him.

//://

“Hey hey,” Abed greeted later that day when they found themselves back in their apartment. Troy was sitting on his bed finishing up some homework when Abed came in and climbed halfway up the latter to meet Troy at eye-level. “You’ll never believe what I found online.”

Troy raised an eyebrow, “What’d you find online?”

“Inspector Spacetime the movie,” He said, with additional emphasis on the last word, “Rumor has it that the movie was so terrible they pulled it out from the box office after only a couple of days, so not many people have seen it and it’s not available anywhere. Wanna watch it tonight?”

Abed’s eyes were wide with excitement, and Troy loved seeing him like this. It wasn’t every day that he got visibly excited for things, so whenever he did, it was always an extra treat.

“That sounds awesome,” Troy replied, smiling wide. “I just have to finish up some homework.”

Abed nodded, “Cool cool. The only thing is - we‘ll have to watch it on my laptop. We can sit on the floor.” He hopped down from the ladder between the beds before even waiting for a response from Troy, “I’ll make popcorn!”

Troy snickered to himself and looked down at his textbook, now far more motivated to get his work done.

He was right in the middle of an essay for one of his English classes when something baby blue was shining brightly, almost comically so, out of the corner of his eye. It sat on the floor, almost under the bed but not quite. He tilted his head down towards it, now bouncing his pencil on and off of his thigh as he began thinking.

 _Would it make me a bad friend to open that?_ He wondered to himself. He listened closely and heard Abed in the kitchen, rustling with a bag of popcorn before popping it in the microwave. A couple of buttons clicked and then the device sounded like it had turn on. His footsteps started wondering back towards the bedroom before they instead went into the bathroom, shutting the door.

Troy was listening to all of this, not wanting to be caught if he were to maybe take a peek inside Abed’s notebook. He decided that he wouldn’t be the worst person in the world if he discreetly climbed down from his bed and just flipped the cover over, just to see what Abed was writing in it.

_Feb. 2nd,_

_Things have been pretty interesting lately. The Dean has been filming a commercial and I’m filming a documentary about the Dean going crazy while doing it. I’m thinking I can maybe get it into a couple of festivals._

Troy smirked. He could just imagine Abed excitedly writing down the fact that he was getting a chance to film and even thinking about what he could do with it down the line. Suddenly he felt disappointed in himself for snooping through Abed’s journal and thinking he’d find something suspicious or weird.

He was about to close it right when his name in the next couple of sentences caught his eye. He furrowed a brow and began reading the next paragraph.

_Troy and I have been spending much more time together. Which is awesome. I love spending time with him. He seems to understands me a little bit more than everybody else. It’s nice not feeling completely alone for once._

Troy frowned as he read the last sentence, although he wouldn’t deny the softness and pure endearment he had towards his best friend at the moment. He kept an ear out to listen to Abed coming out of the bathroom, and before he could turn to another page, he heard the toilet flush. He quickly put the notebook down to where he had discovered it and then raced to settle into his original position on his bed - an open textbook on his lap, and a pencil in his hand. His eyes blankly scanned the pages, not at all thinking about the schoolwork he was supposed to be doing. He couldn’t entirely help it if the only thing in his head was words and phrases he had just read from Abed’s journal.

For a moment, he let his thoughts wander. They wandered to the looks that Abed gave to him in secret - a simple glance that held more emotional depth than he could even begin to summon. He thought about the way Abed always took the seat next to him when he could. He thought of the way sometimes their elbows would touch and they’d shoot each other a discreet look, yet neither would do anything to move from their spot.

Most of all, he thought of not being alone. He thought of Abed feeling just a little bit more included, a little bit more heard and a little bit more seen, because he had a best friend who made sure that he was given due attention.

Troy smiled to himself softly and rested his elbow on his chin, just as the very man on his mind entered the room, drawing back their curtain-walls.

”Have you finished your homework yet?” Abed asked.

Troy looked down at his paper to reveal he hadn’t even gotten halfway through the assignment. Nevertheless, he looked back up at his friend and nodded.

”Yep,” He lied.

”Yes,” Abed replied, drawing out the ‘s’ and pumping a fist in the air. He grabbed the backpack next to his bed and unzipped it, taking out his laptop.

Troy didn’t even attempt to stifle his feeling of endearment towards him. Watching him get excited about things was rather adorable and only made him wanted to get equally as excited.

They both migrated to the floor, Abed getting their popcorn and putting it into a bowl for them to share before coming back and laying next to Troy. They were both flat on their stomachs, when Abed remarked how excited he was to figure out where they had gone wrong in the movie and find out why it didn’t do better, despite the TV show being a phenomenon.

Troy simply hummed along, his thoughts still drifting towards things he probably shouldn’t have been thinking.

//://

The movie finally ended, and Troy and Abed were both cracking up with laughter at the final scene in the movie that was supposed to be dramatic, but ended up comical because of how little sense it made.

”They were really running out of ideas towards the end,” Troy giggled.

”Yeah,” Abed shrugged, “They tried to appeal to too many demographics at the same time and ended up not appealing to any of them.”

Troy hummed in agreement, stroking his chin.

”Or the writers were just really stupid,” They both said at the same time, looking at each other.

”Jinks!” They each called through laughter.

”I called it first!” Troy claimed.

Abed shook his head, his mouth in a wide grin, “No way. It was me.”

”Troy and Abed both called jinks,” Troy sang, as he watched Abed crack and even larger smile.

Abed held his hand up and silently counted to three with his fingers. On three, they chimed in together: “Troy and Abed both called jinks!”

They each began laughing even louder than they had before, and a couple of minutes later, there was a harsh rap on the wall nearest to them.

”Can you guys please quiet down!” A voice squealed, “Some of us actually like to go to bed at a reasonable time.”

”Sorry!” They apologized in unison, which caused Annie to grunt and head back into her room.

Troy laughed again, attempting to be more quiet as he buried his head in the crook of Abed’s neck, letting a couple of more giggles out. He stayed in that position for maybe a second longer than he should’ve, and as he pulled back he realized Abed was no longer smiling.

Something lingered in the boy’s expression - there were words hidden behind his eyes that he wasn’t quite ready to express yet. Their faces were only an inch apart when neither of them took a move towards backing away.

Abed’s eyes flicked down to Troy’s lips and then back up quickly, almost as if he didn’t want to be caught sneaking a look. Troy himself was far too zoned in to care. His brain seemed to be malfunctioning as he stared just as deeply at Abed, a radiating warmth running from his toes to his neck.

He found himself wondering what it would be like to steal a kiss. All he would have to do is lean forwards ever so slightly. Just the thought of it spiked his heart rate and he swore he could feel his heart beating behind his eyes.

 _It’s just a kiss,_ He thought to himself.

He didn’t even realize how badly he wanted it until it was right in front of him, staring at him in the face.

”I have to use the bathroom,” Abed announced suddenly. He got up as quickly as he could and headed into the bathroom before Troy could even begin a sentence.

And just like that, his perfect opportunity was gone.

Troy mentally berated himself for not taking advantage when he could. He cursed under his breath, hoping he hadn’t scared Abed off by reacting so slowly.

Little did Troy know, he’d get a second chance that very night.

They had migrated to the living room, and were watching a Kickpuncher special that had only aired in certain countries. Luckily enough, it was airing on the 33rd channel that night, and there was only one spot for it: 2am.

So, of course, Abed had determined he was going to stay up and wait for it to come on, and despite him insisting that Troy didn’t have to, he decided to stay up as well.

His tolerance for staying up late was surprisingly lower than Abed’s, however, and he ended up half-asleep on the couch by 1:45am.

By the time the special was over, Troy was still not fully asleep, but his eyes were closed and his chest was breathing evenly. Abed, of course, was wide awake.

He looked behind him, at Troy who appeared to be sound asleep. Abed smiled softly. He always looked so peaceful when he slept. He got up from in front of the TV and grabbed a blanket from their bedroom, placing it gently over Troy.

For a moment, he simply stood above him and stared. He thought about how if anyone were to enter the room at this moment, they’d be utterly terrified at the way Abed was staring at Troy and probably would assume something sinister was at play. Not Troy, though. Troy knew him much better than that. He chose to understand him better than that.

If he were awake, he’d be able to tell that Abed was staring at him with nothing but adoration filling his heart and lungs. He’d know that there wasn’t anything wrong with what Abed was doing, because Abed was just _different_.

Abed crouched down to his knees, so that he was eye-level with Troy. He crossed his arms right over the boy’s torso, and rested his head there, feeling his even breaths raise and then fall. He could feel the beat of the boy’s heart steady in his rib cage, and silently wondered how he’d survive the college realm without someone as sincere and compassionate as Troy by his side.

 _How did I ever go through life without him?_ Thought Abed.

He sighed deeply, and wondered how to label the warmth that cruised through his bloodstream and suffocated his lungs, seemingly pouring out of every pore in his body. He almost felt overwhelmed with it, and the words came out of his mouth before he could stop them.

”I love you,” He stated. And he figured it must’ve been true, because the words felt.... they just felt _right_. 

Suddenly, Troy’s breath hitched. He raised himself up on his elbows and opened his eyes, looking directly at Abed, who was in some state of shock.

”I love you, too.” Troy replied.

Abed’s head spun as his brain searched for possible responses.

”You do?” He ended up asking after a minute.

Troy nodded, a small smile growing on his face. “Yeah. I do.” He sat all the way up and positioned himself so that his legs were on either side of Abed, who was still in a kneeling position on the floor.

”I’ve been wanting to tell you but I - I didn’t know how,” Troy admitted, his neck growing hotter by the second.

Abed simply smiled genuinely in response. Troy thought it might’ve been the cutest thing he had ever seen. He wanted to etch the smile into his memory forever and paint it on the back of his eyelids so that it was all he’d ever look at again.

”Me too.” Abed replied in a quieter tone.

Troy smiled at him as well, but it was Abed who finally decided to make the first move - he extended himself forwards, crashing his lips into Troy’s.

It was everything he had imagined it would be. Soft and sweet like Troy, yet passionate and tough like Abed. Troy swore he felt his heart lift from a depth he hadn’t even realized it had receded into, and suddenly a new universe was created. A universe where they weren’t just Troy and Abed, but TroyandAbed. A universe where they already understood each other, so it didn’t matter if anyone else could or couldn’t.

A universe where they ruled and resided as one. And as they pulled back slightly to look into each other’s eyes, they may have each realized that this was the only universe they had ever needed.

**Author's Note:**

> thx guys for reading :) this was my first work with the Community fandom, so. i hope u enjoyed it. feel free to leave comments, I love comments


End file.
